


A House Divided

by Capucine



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Batgirl Issue 19, Capital Punishment, Cassandra Cain is Batgirl, Ethical Dilemmas, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Justice, Minor Character Death, Moral Dilemmas, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 18:43:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14087256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capucine/pseuds/Capucine
Summary: Batgirl does not condone killing. When a murderer is scheduled to be executed, this principle is put to the test--and the aftermath of her decision will change everything.





	A House Divided

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on Batgirl issue 19, in which Batgirl intervenes in a scheduled execution. I didn't feel it played out true to character, and I also thought that it would make a much more interesting story if I followed what I felt she probably would have done. So, this is that story.

She hadn’t known this was something that could happen. She thought that the people who weren’t evil didn’t kill, especially not someone who couldn’t escape, couldn’t harm anyone anymore—could _change._

He was due to be killed that night—Billy Ray Blackwell. But if Cassandra Cain had anything to say about it, no one would die tonight.

She broke into a prison. She found him; he had greasy, curly blond hair, and a confused expression as she freed him, dragged him along. She could see the police doing their best to stop her, guns coming out into play. It wouldn’t work; she’d emptied them all beforehand.

The mother appeared.

The mother of the victim of this man. A girl who was brutally killed. Her eyes were wet, sort of damp, but there was a sheer ice to them as well. Her hair was hidden under a hat that she’d heard Stephanie call an ‘Easter bonnet’, but it seemed too dark for the tone that Stephanie used.

“That man murdered my baby,” the woman said, words ground with concrete, “You put him back in there.”

“Maybe...he...changed,” Cass managed, words still not her strength. She could see immediately that this didn’t matter to the woman, her expression still stone, her eyes empty of light.

“Maybe he did. But my little girl is still dead.”

It felt like a lightning bolt, but only inside her chest. Every moment of the man Cass had killed played across her memory in a moment, the agony in his body, the fear, the blood that spilled from his throat. And within that, the thrum of _you can never be forgiven, you can never be redeemed._

It steeled something inside her, turning it to an iron determination.

“ _No one_...dies...tonight.”

She could see the angry flash in the woman’s eyes, the shock on the man’s face behind her. The woman would say something, the very muscles in her body tensed full of hate in a way that made Cass almost want to vomit.

So she seized Billy Ray by the back of the jumpsuit, and flung them to the nearest safety point.

The news would be plastered with her image, his image, and the shocking news long before the morning. The interview with the victim’s mother would be everything come 5 AM.

And Batman and his family...would never be the same.

–

_’The scheduled execution of Billy Ray Blackwell was interrupted last night by the last minute rescue from a place no one expected—the vigilante, Batgirl. Billy Ray Blackwell was convicted of the murder of Amanda Conrad, in which he strangled her to death with his bare hands while in the process of attempting to rape her._

_Both Batgirl and Blackwell are still at large, and the police have requested that those with any information on their whereabouts immediately contact this number. The police also released this statement:’_

The screen flickered from the reporter, a blue-eyed man, to Commissioner Gordon addressing the press.

_’This is a breach of justice that cannot be tolerated. Billy Ray Blackwell is a dangerous criminal, and we will do everything in our power to recover him.’_

__A reporter cut in, ‘ _Do you have anything to say to Batgirl? Do you know why she did this?’_

Gordon looked at the screen, face tired but hard. _’The only thing I would have to say to Batgirl is this: Turn the man in. He’s not worth any of this. As to why she did this, I can’t answer that.’_

The screen flickered back to the reporter, who continued to speak.

_’For anyone who was hoping for an end to the tragic story of Amanda Conrad, today is not that day. Her killer is still out there, and no one knows if he’ll target more victims with Batgirl’s help. Here’s Dave with what you can do to remain safe while this brutal killer is free.’_

The screen clicked onto mute, as a bullet point list with items such as ‘don’t walk alone’ and ‘lock your doors’ showed up.

Tim didn’t think he’d ever seen Bruce so angry. It made him afraid to speak, so he stayed silent, wondering what in hell’s name could have caused Cass to do something like this.

Bruce tapped on the keyboard so hard that it seemed like he was trying to break the individual keys. Instead, though, he called up Barbara, sharply barking, “Did you see the news?!”

“Yes, I did! Did you put her up to this?” Barbara demanded back, voice bordering on hysterical.

“Of course I didn’t!” Bruce snapped, and it was like watching two unstoppable forces come at each other. Both were furious.

Tim was dumbfounded, not furious.

Barbara was absolutely trembling with rage as she said, “There’s nothing about Blackwell that ties to anyone, our enemies or Shiva or Cain...he’s just a murderer. He’s just the kind of sociopath who’d kill a teenager with his bare hands. There’s no reason--”

“She doesn’t kill.”

Tim felt almost like stepping back when Bruce and Barbara’s eyes focused on him, the intensity like lasers. He said again, “She doesn’t kill, and she doesn’t let anyone else, either.”

“But this is an execution, not a murder,” Bruce said, “She has to understand that. It’s not the same thing--”

He stopped. His face had gone as still as a statue.

Tim had no doubt he’d realized that there was absolutely no reason that Cass would understand that this was different. She’d never really considered the government any more allowed to kill or mistreat than any other person she came across. She’d recently tangled with the FBI and been labeled a terrorist assassin by them.

He’d only heard about it from Bruce and by being very aware of small bits of information, but he would have thought Cass would have learned from it.

Apparently, she didn’t.

And now, there was going to be hell to pay, thought Tim didn’t know who would be demanding the payment.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted in a long time, and there are reasons that I'd rather not share for that at this time, if you're a regular reader of mine. I doubt the majority of folks who pick up this fic are, but I've felt bad about neither updating nor communicating.


End file.
